Galerie Pici is pleased to present its first solo exhibition of Sunsoo Kim (b. 1963), Stillness in the Heart, on view from December 9th through December 16th, 2021. This exhibition follows Kim’s recent landscape paintings, set in a rural village in Gokseong, Jeollanam-do, where Kim spent his childhood. Kim’s delicate landscapes are entirely imaginary. He relies on fragments of memories rather than being on site to produce them. The focus in these works seem to be the time of day where it could be either early mornings before sunrise, or just before the sun sets, capturing the stillness of a fleeting moment.  

His subjects are interpretive reflections of his present surroundings connected with his memory of the forest, trees, and wildflowers, enveloped by a familiar fog off the river. The remaining impression from the past appears on canvas to reflect not only his interest in nature’s beauty but also it’s transcendent, healing and meditative qualities.  

Kim uses oil paints but his works on canvas emphasize the flatness where almost no texture can be seen. He developed an extremely subtle, realist technique for depicting light and weather. Oil paint colors look soaked onto the canvas like a print. At first glance, the viewer could mistake his painting as a photograph. Kim uses a thin brush to draw outlines incorporating Eastern drawing techniques.

Sunsoo Kim was born in Gokseong, Jellanam-do, Korea and received his BFA and MFA from the School of Fine Arts at Hongik University, Seoul. He works and lives in Seoul.